Tania from the Candied Quince tagged me for this recipe meme. Above is just a small portion of my cookbook collection.

From where do you obtain the recipes you prepare?
I LOVE recipes! I have many recipe books that I constantly pour over, I peruse food blogs and I have an old manilla envelope bulging with recipes clipped out of newspapers or sent to me by my mom. Do I follow them to the letter? Not really. I’m kinda like a recipe vacuum cleaner…I absorb lots but when it comes to making something new, often I wing it from my stored knowledge. Sometimes the results aren’t so good, but mostly things turn out deliciously. Baking is another matter and I usually follow baking recipes to the law of the letter, changing only a few things that I’m positive won’t disrupt the outcome.

How often do you cook a new recipe?
Definitely once or twice a week.

Where do you store your favourite recipes?
I don’t have a special place for favorites, but I’ve inherited a tagging system developed by my mother where I write my comments in the margins of the book, sometimes with hastily drawn stars & notes like “lovely!”. As well, I always try to include my most favorite recipes here in this blog. Share and share alike.

How large is your recipe pile? Is it organized? If so, how?
I don’t really have a recipe pile, but I do have 2 recipe files on my computer. I store recipes I find interesting enough to try as part of my browser bookmarks. Currently, I’ve got 45 recipes bookmarked to try! I also have an older text file (I hate Word) with just as many recipes that I probably haven’t gotten around to trying yet. Neither of these digital files are organized in anyway.

What is the oldest recipe in your “to try” pile?
Hmmm, probably I have clippings since before I moved to Vancouver and that was almost 10 years ago!

Are you really ever going to make all those recipes in your to-try pile?
Probably not, but I like to have options.

Do you follow a recipe exactly or modify as you go?
As I was telling someone today, the reason I look so young is that I love to play! I always modify and play with recipes and it’s usually because I don’t have every ingredient listed and it’s just easier to make things up as I go along. Maybe because I have to be a stickler for detail in my work, that I’m less a stickler when it comes to my life.

What is one new recipe that you’re scared to try?
Recipes with complicated and explicit instructions scare me and I usually pass those by.

As for tagging someone, I’m pretty bad with that, so I’ll skip that part of the meme. But if you’re reading this and want to get in on the hot meme action, by all means, share your recipe knowledge!

I’ll share a photo of my most favorite and easy recipes, chili…it’s also tonight’s dinner! I’ve posted it before, but this time I’ve substituted Yves veggie ground round for the ground turkey. Cornelius and I both love it. There’s something so hearty and flavourful in this recipe and I love depth of flavour brought on by the cocoa powder and smoked chipotle chili. Cornelius, who is a bit skeptical of fake meat, can’t taste the difference in this recipe. In fact, last time I made it he said, “I love this! I’m so glad that we’re finally eating some meat!” Ha!